Untitled

Letras y Figuras, 'Juana Reyes'

GAVEL & BLOCK: HISTORY | G0610

AUCTION | 2 JUNE 2018, 3PM

PREVIEW | 25 MAY - 2 JUNE 2018, 10AM-6PM

Lot 31

Fernando Amorsolo

Untitled (Filipina Woman in Mestiza Dress)

1954

Oil on canvas

40 x 30 cm (16 x 12 in)

Quick Overview

This fine boceto by the first National Artist shows elan - an airy, chic joie de vivre quality depicting a Filipina beauty holding a fan in an eye-catching ochre off-the-shoulder formal gown known as the mestiza dress. Presumably a study for a larger portrait, subject unknown, the gray under painting, typically used by the maestro, imbues the canvas with an ineffable luminosity. The loose brushwork on the bottom left and foreground imparts a certain impressionistic quality to the work, loosening the strict academic style of Amorsolo and taking it into modernity.